Philadelphia’s North Star venue played host to a star-studded bill of doom metal heavyweights as A Storm of Light, Magic Circle, Mustard Gas & Roses, and Gholas tore through last Saturday evening. The show’s cast read like the Who’s Who of American metal and hardcore musicians.
Headliners and Brooklyn’s own, A Storm of Light, feature permanent members Josh Graham (ex-Red Sparowes, Battle Of Mice, Blood And Time, Neurosis) on guitar, vocals and synthesizers, banjo, and piano. Domenic Seita (ex Tombs) rips bass, backing vocals, and percussion, as BJ Graves (US Christmas, Generation of Vipers) destroys the drums. Andrea Black (ex Howl) owns the guitar, with vocals at select performances by Nerissa Campbell. This powerhouse group released their third full-length, As the Valley of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade, in 2011 on Profound Lore records. This most recent effort embodies the mark of countless sub-genres of metal including doom, experimental, classic industrial, and post rock, without abandoning many of the motifs found on the band’s prior releases. With As the Valley of Death Becomes Us.., A Storm of Light set forth what may be their most accessible release to date with more traditional song structures and driving rhythms. This latter release saw many guest appearances including guitarist Kim Thayil of Soundgarden. The band’s live performance is just as memorizing and engaging as one would expect from such a solid group of musicians. You simply strap in and take the ride for a set that stimulates your aural and visual senses to the max.
The supporting acts for this bill could hardly be called “support,” as this package was rounded out by Mustard Gas and Roses (MGR), which is the ambient solo project of Mike Gallagher of ISIS. Magic Circle may have all but stolen the show, featuring members of Doomriders, Mind Eraser and Rival Mob, they had the house’s full attention from opening notes to closing bells. This is definitely a band to keep an eye on in 2012 as they prepare to drop their first LP. The bill was set in motion by local openers, Gholas who proved to be a fitting choice with their atmospheric, post-rock progressions.
Our wonderfully talented Senior Staff Photographer, Dante Torrieri, of Useless Rebel Imaging was on hand to capture the show in pictures for your viewing pleasure. So without further ado..
All pictures by Dante Torrieri.
Words by Joshua T. Cohen.
Gholas
[wp_bandcamp_player type=”album” id=”1065916918″ size=”venti” bg_color=”#FFFFFF” link_color=”#4285BB”]
Magic Circle
MAGIC CIRCLE – Song: “Scream Evil”
[youtube width=”560″ height=”25″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE50qa4Xrfg[/youtube]
“And It Falls By The Gallons” – MGR – Wavering on the Cresting Heft – 2007
[youtube width=”560″ height=”25″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAVMeL0Y-KM[/youtube]
“Collapse” taken from 2011’s As The Valley Of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade
[youtube width=”560″ height=”25″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GxfYW2Jqrc[/youtube]
Recommended for you
